7-Eleven fans might thank heaven for Houston return

By Kiah Collier |
January 4, 2013
| Updated: January 4, 2013 11:12pm

The 7-Eleven chain is known for Double Gulp drinks as well as the frozen Slurpee. ﻿

Photo By Steve Ruark/FRE

Dinkensh Dubiyo, center, sells lottery tickets at a Baltimore 7-Eleven store where one of the winning lottery tickets for the record-breaking $640 million Mega Millions jackpot was sold Saturday, March 31, 2012.

Photo By Steve Ruark/FRE

Stephen Martino, director of the Maryland Lottery, speaks to reporters outside a Baltimore 7-Eleven store where one of the winning lottery tickets for the record-breaking $640 million Mega Millions jackpot was sold Saturday, March 31, 2012.

These 7-Eleven signs came down in 1988 at 2418 Yale. The world's largest convenience store chain is coming back to the Houston area. ﻿

Slurpee enthusiasts rejoice: 7-Eleven, the world's largest convenience store chain and creator of the iconic frozen drink, is returning to Houston after a 25-year absence.

On New Year's Eve, the Dallas-based chain acquired 143 convenience stores in Texas, including two Speedy Stop stores in northwest Houston. The outlets will continue to operate under the Speedy Stop brand until they are remodeled and rebranded.

One of the stores is at Texas 6 and West Little York; the other is on Tomball Parkway, just north of Willowbrook Mall.

"We are very interested in finding more stores to acquire in the Houston area to build our presence there," 7-Eleven spokeswoman Margaret Chabris said in an email Friday.

While some stores held onto the brand, 7-Eleven Inc., which owns more outlets than any other retailer or food-service provider in the world, including McDonald's and Starbucks, sold all 268 of its Houston stores, including 9 Quik Marts, on Jan. 1, 1988, Chabris said.

It was part of broader selloff following a leveraged buyout, she said.

Aficionados of the Slurpee, first introduced in 1966, were excited to hear about the chain's return to Houston.

"You just made my decade," added Andrew Ferraro, who said he is a fan of the Coca-Cola flavor.

Stan Reynolds, 7-Eleven executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in a news release that the Dec. 31 acquisition from Victoria-based C.L. Thomas brings the total number of operated or franchised 7-Eleven stores in Texas to 700. That's up from 342 in 2011.

The chain has made several Texas acquisitions in the past two years, including Tetco stores in Dallas-Forth Worth, Austin and San Antonio; Exxon Mobil stores in North Texas; and Quix stores in the Austin area.

"We continue to build our presence in a rapidly growing area of the U.S., along the I-35 corridor from north of Dallas/Fort Worth to the Mexican border," Reynolds said in the release.

Chabris said the company has hired all necessary store staff and will train them to use a new computer system that will be installed this month.

Gary Landson, a Houston-based commercial real estate broker, said the company will likely have good luck finding stores to buy in the region, which he noted has grown tremendously since the company was last here.

"Their familiarity is tremendous nationally, and having them come into the market is a very positive sign for Houston," Landson said, also noting opportunities for franchising with a strong brand.

While most U.S. stores are franchised, Chabris said "it can take quite some to start franchising after we have made such a large acquisition" because the stores have to be remodeled and rebranded first.

There is no firm timeline for when that will occur, she said.

According to the release, the company operates franchises or licenses more than 9,500 stores in North America, and more than 48,400 stores in 16 countries worldwide.